Evolution of Video Games

Transcription

1 Evolution of Video Games

2 First Game 1961: Steve Russell, a student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, creates Spacewar, the world's first computer game It was programed on the DEC PDP-1 at MIT. Featured two spaceships for two players to control and fight each other 1971: Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney (future founders of Atari) created an arcade version of Spacewar, calling it Computer Space. Not many really like it because of its difficulty

3 First Console 1972: Magnavox Odyssey is the world's first home video game console Had 27 games and 12 "cartridges" Had trouble in sales due to public believing the console required a Magnavox TV (it didn't).

4 Pong - Not the First, but the Start Released as an arcade game by Atari in 1975 Actually based off of an Odyssey game, which later caused lawsuits between Atari and Magnavox First mainstream video game Kick started the video game industry

5 Coleco and Fairfield 1976: In the same year, both Coleco and Fairfield Camera and Instrument come out with consoles The Coleco console only came with 3 Pong variants Channel F (Fairfield's console) was the first programmable ROM cartridge based console

6 Atari 1977: Atari releases its Video Computer System a year after Channel F It was more popular and cheaper, but had only had 4 built in games Later renamed to Atari 2600 when the Atari 5200 was announced.

7 Arcade Landmarks 1978: The company Midway introduces Space Invaders the first game to keep track of high scores 1979: Asteroids is the first game to allow players to enter 3 letters with their high scores 1980:Namco Sells 300,000 Pac-man units

8 First Third-Party Developer 1980: Activision is born, the first game developer that doesn't produce its own consoles. Made up mostly of Atari programmers who wanted more recognition for making Atari games

9 Fast paced Advancement 1982: The Atari 5200 comes out 1983: Cinematronics releases the first game to use laser disk The Commodore 64 comes out, most powerful and cheapest "Console" to date (King had the previous model, the Vic 20) Nintendo released the NES in Japan, but never distributed to the US do to a deal that fell through with Atari (no Nintendo in America for 2 more years)

10 More Console Releases 1985: Tetris was created by Russian Alex Pajitnov 1986: NES is finally released in the US Sega releases Sega Master System (SMS) Atari releases the 7800 to compete

11 Game Boy and Genesis 1989: Nintendo releases the Game Boy handheld device, used cartridges and was black and white The Sega genesis comes out, it is the first 16-bit home gaming console, brought the true "arcade experience" home

12 ESRB, PS, and the N : The Entertainment Software Rating Board is created as a result of a Senate investigation. 1995: the Sony Playstation using compact disks is released in the US (I am also born) 1996: The Nintendo 64 cartridge based console is released in the US 1999: ZeniMax Media is founded

13 Playstation on Top The PlayStation topped 20 million sales in two years In 2000, the PlayStation 2 Came out. The initial shipment of 500,000 units sells out almost immediately Sims comes out the same year, two years later it becomes the best-selling PC game to date

14 Next Gen stuff 2001: Microsoft announces the Xbox, claiming the most powerful gaming experience ever At the same time, the Gamecube is announced by Nintendo featuring new forms of interactive gaming Sega will never manufacture hardware again The Gameboy Advanced is released

15 Some Next NEXT gen 2004: The Nintendo DS is released, with a touchscreen 2005: Sony releases the Playstation Portable with a large high-def screen The Xbox 360 is unveiled The PS3 and Wii are announced 2006: The PS3 and Wii are released. The PS3 is sophisticated, but expensive. The Wii uses new motion-sensor controls

16 next Next NEXT gen... There still hasn't been a new generation release, or even an announcement for a release date. New hardware HAS been released, but the generation remains stagnant (Wii U doesn't count Games have been getting bigger and more refined, the systems should follow suit.

17 Source com/spot/gamestimeline.html